New Orleans business: Most improved in 2011

Once worst in MarketWatch study, Big Easy now in top third of class

New Orleans moved from 77th place in MarketWatch’s 2010 study to 33rd this year.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — What a difference a disaster makes.

Six years removed from the near-apocalypse that was Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans thinks it has picked itself up and dusted itself off. And now the city that got a lot of sympathy after most of it was deluged has rebuilt itself and gotten a new, pro-growth attitude.

It’s showing up in the numbers. The Big Easy’s unemployment rate beats the national average, personal income growth is high, growth in economic output is above average and the city is beginning to attract businesses.

“It’s not an evolution. There’s been a cultural sea change,” said Michael Hecht, chief executive of Greater New Orleans Inc., a business promotion group. “I think New Orleans is in the midst of one of the greatest urban turnarounds.”

As a result, New Orleans moved up 44 positions in the ranks of MarketWatch’s Best Cities for Business for 2011. The city that, for two years running, was the worst city on the list is now in the top third of the class. Read the full story about the top 10 cities.

New Orleans moved from 77th place in the 2010 study to 33rd this year, getting 895 points.

In 2009, New Orleans was in the bottom 10. And during the first two years of the MarketWatch study, it was dead last.

Changes in the study

A number of things have worked in the city’s favor. For one, the first two years of the study examined only those cities with a population of 1 million or more, or 50 metro areas. The list was expanded in 2009 to include areas with a population of 500,000 or more, which doubled the size of those metro areas scrutinized.

Last year, the survey added data on economic output from tourism and military activities, since a number of metro areas rely heavily on either or both for their economy. New Orleans’s tourism economic output now stands at No. 3 in the nation, behind only Las Vegas and Miami.

How they scored
MarketWatch's annual survey covers 102 metro areas. Company score
measures the concentration of businesses within a area according to
several gauges. Economic score looks at unemployment, job growth, population
growth, personal income and local economic output. (A previous version of the company and economic scores column headings in this table were inadvertently reversed. The headings have been corrected.)
Read about the survey's methodology.

Rank

City

Total
Score

ECONOMIC
Score

COMPANY
Score

1

Washington

1339.5

720

619.5

2

Boston

1143.5

574

569.5

3

Des Moines, Iowa

1131

586

545

4

Minneapolis-St. Paul

1119.5

496

623.5

5

Omaha, Neb.

1114.5

535

579.5

6

Oklahoma City

1107.5

653

454.5

7

Salt Lake City

1089

610

479

8

Austin, Texas

1072.5

631

441.5

9

New York

1052.5

509.5

543

10

San Antonio

1042

585.5

456.5

11

Denver

1027

466

561

12

Richmond, Va.

1026

524.5

501.5

13

Dallas

1023.5

510.5

513

14

Houston

1022

562.5

459.5

15

Seattle

1010.5

471

539.5

16

Pittsburgh

1009.5

561.5

448

17

Durham, N.C.

1002.5

654

348.5

18

Harrisburg, Pa.

987

473.5

513.5

19

Baltimore

985.5

593.5

392

20

Nashville, Tenn.

980.5

541

439.5

21

Bridgeport, Conn.

976.5

431.5

545

22

Raleigh, N.C.

971

567

404

23

Philadelphia

965.5

435.5

530

24

Tulsa, Okla.

956.5

512.5

444

25

San Jose, Calif.

953

426

527

26

Charlotte, N.C.

952.5

429.5

523

27

Madison, Wis.

951

598.5

352.5

28

Charleston, S.C.

909

531

378

29

Indianapolis

908

479

429

30

Columbus, Ohio

903.5

449.5

454

31

San Francisco

901

297

604

32

Hartford, Conn.

898

489

409

33

New Orleans

895

500.5

394.5

34

Portland, Maine

890

497

393

35

Honolulu

880.5

595.5

285

36

Kansas City

863

384

479

37

Atlanta

857

339

518

38

San Diego

850

374.5

475.5

39

Milwaukee

845.5

346.5

499

40

Albany, N.Y.

840

570.5

269.5

41

Little Rock, Ark.

837.5

509

328.5

42

Knoxville, Tenn.

833

498

335

43

Jackson, Miss.

824.5

482.5

342

44

St. Louis

824

275

549

45

Memphis, Tenn.

819.5

332.5

487

46

Portland, Ore.

800.5

440

360.5

47

Jacksonville, Fla.

797.5

361.5

436

48

Colorado Springs, Colo.

794

470

324

49

Louisville, Ky.

786.5

407.5

379

50

Virginia Beach, Va.

779.5

463.5

316

51

Chicago

778.5

245.5

533

52

Chattanooga, Tenn.

777.5

400.5

377

53

Boise, Idaho

774

380.5

393.5

54

Rochester, N.Y.

764

513.5

250.5

55

Buffalo, N.Y.

761

463

298

56

Cleveland

738.5

303

435.5

57

Cincinnati

737.5

338.5

399

58

Los Angeles

732

279

453

59

Baton Rouge, La.

728

500

228

60

Phoenix

726.5

364.5

362

61

El Paso, Texas

723.5

496

227.5

62

Syracuse, N.Y.

722.5

494.5

228

63

Greenville, S.C.

710

382

328

64

Albuquerque, N.M.

702.5

514.5

188

65

Provo, Utah

697.5

471

226.5

66

Wichita, Kan.

694.5

339

355.5

67

Ogden, Utah

690.5

481.5

209

68

Augusta, Ga.

683

459.5

223.5

69

Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

678

471

207

70

Birmingham, Ala.

670

320

350

71

Greensboro, N.C.

667

328

339

72

Miami

662

248.5

413.5

73

Orlando, Fla.

638.5

358.5

280

74*

Allentown, Pa.

632

392

240

74*

Providence, R.I.

632

283

349

76

Las Vegas

614.5

212.5

402

77

Lancaster, Pa.

607.5

390

217.5

78

Columbia, S.C.

607

361.5

245.5

79

Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

603

233

370

80

Akron, Ohio

594

266

328

81

Worcester, Mass.

578.5

409

169.5

82

Palm Bay, Fla.

573

278

295

83

Oxnard, Calif.

568

245.5

322.5

84

Springfield, Mass.

563.5

302.5

261

85

McAllen, Texas

562

494

68

86

Tucson, Ariz.

556.5

382

174.5

87

New Haven, Conn.

555

391

164

88

Scranton, Pa.

531

344

187

89

Detroit

528

105

423

90

Grand Rapids, Mich.

515.5

227

288.5

91

Toledo, Ohio

510

161.5

348.5

92

Bakersfield, Calif.

506

393

113

93

Lakeland, Fla.

480.5

249.5

231

94

Cape Coral, Fla.

470.5

259

211.5

95

North Port, Fla.

439.5

222.5

217

96*

Dayton, Ohio

425

167

258

96*

Modesto, Calif.

425

240

185

98

Youngstown, Ohio

405.5

219.5

186

99

Sacramento, Calif.

364

228

136

100

Fresno, Calif.

350

293

57

101

Riverside, Calif.

344

201

143

102

Stockton, Calif.

248.5

171

77.5

* Tie
(Editor's note: An earlier version of this table mislabeled the economic and
company score headings. The headings have been corrected.)

And the devastation caused by Katrina has left the city with some favorable comparisons to the past. Understandably, the area ranked last in population growth; the population of New Orleans proper is now at about 80% of pre-Katrina levels.

New Orleans came in first place for long-term personal-income growth. Still, its short-term income growth was in the upper fourth of the 102 cities studied.

Further, the city is making strides in other areas. It ranked 15th in economic output for 2010. And its jobless rate, which stood at 6.9% for September, makes New Orleans tied for No. 16.

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